MM & DMA Application & Timeline

Graduate Application, including the non-refundable $100 application fee

Individual program requirements.  Consult the Audition and Program Requirements before starting your application. This includes information about your intended degree program's potential prescreening recording, writing sample, or portfolio requirements. NOTE: If your program requires prescreening, we recommend separating each prescreening selection into individual files. Alternatively, within the graduate application, you are also welcome to input a link to a video uploaded to an external website such as YouTube or Vimeo. 

Transcripts.  You are required to provide transcripts from all postsecondary schools that you have attended. Transcripts must include grades and the institutional grading system, courses initiated and completed, and should show any degree(s) that were awarded or are anticipated.

Scanned copies and unofficial transcripts are acceptable and must be uploaded to your Graduate Application. Scans that are sent as email attachments from an applicant will not be accepted. Scanned transcripts will be considered unofficial and we reserve the right to request an official transcript. If your application is successful and you enroll at Northwestern, you will be asked to provide final official transcripts at that time.

If your school provides electronic transcripts and requires an email address, please use musiclife@northwestern.edu.

If your transcript is from an institution outside the United States, it must be translated into English and include the school's full grading system. Transcripts that do not meet these criteria must be evaluated for U.S. grade equivalency by an approved educational credentialing service. We recommend World Education Services or Educational Perspectives. Do not translate them yourself. 

IMPORTANT: If you must have your transcripts evaluated because they do not meet the criteria outlined above, the Bienen School of Music requires that individual courses and grades are listed on the evaluation report. For both WES and Education Perspectives, select the course-by-course evaluation.

Letters of Recommendation.  Two letters of recommendation are required, although you may submit more than two. Within the graduate application, you will have the opportunity to list all of your recommenders and you will be asked to provide their email addresses. They will then receive an email that allows them to upload their letter of recommendation to your file. If your recommender does not wish to use the online form, they may mail a copy to our office. Emails from personal accounts will not be accepted.

Resumé.  Please upload a copy of your resumé within your Graduate Application. Performance applicants will also be given the chance to upload a repertoire list, which should consist of musical selections that you have studied to the point of performance. Educators and doctoral applicants are welcome to upload their professional curriculum vitae (CV) in lieu of a resumé, if desired.

Personal Statement. Provide a statement (1000 words or less) in support of your application. This statement will be used to evaluate your writing skills. Explain your professional and career goals following the completion of your graduate degree. Please reference your existing knowledge of the music profession as well as the contributions you plan to make in support of the arts.

English language proficiency.  If your first and primary language is not English, regardless of citizenship, you are required to provide official results from either the TOEFL iBT or TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition, International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or Duolingo English Test (DET).  Scores that are more than two years old will not be accepted. See English language exam requirements.